Line Combos: What will the Leafs powerplay units look like?

[hector morrison]

This is what:

LEAFS' #1 PP UNIT should look like ----

(Starting by player importance)

1) Marner ----> Playing on the Right-Wall. Capable of setting up all 5 of his teammates at any given time.

2) Rielly -----> Rielly will co-quarterback this PP unit from the Left side of the point. If we stack our #1 PP-Unit. Rielly will be the player open every single time due to the insane skill of the other players. Thus, I believe he will be the key-cog.

3) Matthews ----->Left slot / left-wall. Matthews will be given so many oppourtinities if the leafs completely stack the #1 PP-Unit. He will likely have a 'Grade-A' Opportunity EVERY-SINGLE PP if the leafs use these players.

4) Tavares -----> Behind the net / Near the net. Tavares will be given an oppurtunity to set-up plays behind the net once the opponents focus their attention on one of Matthews/Marner/Nylander. In this scenario, he will be used on the powerplay, similar to how Crosby is used on the Pens' powerplay.


5) Johnsson -----> Johnsson will be used as a front-of-the-net presence. Similar to how Hornquvist is used on the Pens' powerplay.

He will be given the oppurtunity to cash in empty net goals ..... Most of the focus will be implemented on Matthews/Tavares/Marner .... He will get the weakest player on him, if he plays his cards right (which I think he will), he will have the most PP goals on the leafs.

Keep in mind, Johnsson just tore-apart the AHL-Playoffs. He seemed like a brand-new player after his playoffs experience. He can be our Tyler Johnsson or Kucherov or Panarin.

Yup, I like it! Marner, Tavares & Matthews, Don't care who else....2nd unit won't be needed! If it is,then just leave Marner out there! Yes I'm kidding ,but can't wait....seriously the options available will be a coaches dream!

 

[moon111]

Since 2009, Tyler Ennis still has the most PP ice-time play for Buffalo. He is currently 26th for all-time power-play points for the Sabre forwards. (Dave Andreychuk is #2, Mogilny #8, Mike Foligno is 15th.) Tyler Ennis had 75 ppp for Buffalo. Only 3 with the Wild. He only has 8 less PPP then Kadri.

In the last four seasons, Bozak only had 6 less power-play goals then JVR. (Just putting this out there because I would of expected this to be a much bigger spread)

Combining the last four seasons together, Jake Gardiner is 3rd, 6th, 7th, and 10th on team in giveaways while on the power-play. He's dangerous to both teams while out there. By comparison, Rielly has been 19th, 28th, 30th, and 36th. There's been enough Bozak-bashing come from penalty-killers stripping the puck off Gardiner and Bozak trailing the play hopelessly. This has to be a consideration of who's on the ice with him.

Hyman, Johnsson, Kapanen are already eating up minutes on the penalty kill. Connor Brown, more PP ice then Komarov, but put up less points. He's not turning heads on the PP. Josh Leivo had 2/3rds the PP ice of Komarov, had no PP points. He's had a few chances which haven't shown he can consistently do it.

Personally I can easily see the 1st PP having: Tavares, Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Rielly. ...and getting massive ice-time.
And the 2nd PP being: Marleau, Kadri, Ennis, Gardiner. With either: Travis Dermott, Nikita Zaitsev or Connor Carrick.

 

[ZEBROA]

Marner, Tavares, Matthews, Nylander and Andreas Johnsson
no need for D when you only play in the o zone.

 

[Nithoniniel]

Tavares got 30 points on the PP this year. JvR got 20. Sure JvR was one of the best. Clearly Tavares is far better. Johnson picked up 18 PP points during the Marlies regular season and 6 more in the Calder Cup playoffs. I think the JvR and Bozak replacements will do just fine.

Yeah, Tavares had substantially more ice time though. JvR had 5.24 primary points per 60, Tavares had 4.72 P1/60. JvR has a lead in points/60 as well. As for Johnsson, that's not all that much more than Bozak got, except Bozie did it in the NHL and not an inferior league.

Of course they'll be fine. I didn't argue that they wouldn't be. I disputed the idea that they are a substantial upgrade.

 

[White Shadow]

Most highly talented teams load up a single unit, and play them like 1:30 of every PP. We should at least give it a shot.

I’d love to see us give Matthews/Tavares/Nylander/Rielly/Marner a legit run together, enough time to see if they can develop chemistry. That unit has a chance to be similar to Crosby/Malkin/Kessel/Hornqvist/Letang. If a loaded up Leafs PP is awesome, the 2nd unit still has enough talent to be passable for the remaining ~30 seconds per PP.

The Pens PP overall was better than ours because their 2nd unit was better than our 2nd unit.

Our unstacked unit with Marner was better than their stacked unit.

 

[Liminality]

The Pens PP overall was better than ours because their 2nd unit was better than our 2nd unit.

Our unstacked unit with Marner was better than their stacked unit.

Which is why there's a possibility we have split units again in some capacity.

Is Tavares, Marner, Matthews, Johnsson on one unit and Kadri, Marleau, Nylander, Leivo(?) on the other unit enough of a split?

Tavares
Matthews-Johnsson-Nylander
Rielly

Marleau
Leivo-Kadri-Nylander
Gardiner

Not an even split by any means but is having Kadri and Nylander on the 2nd unit a big enough danger for other teams.

 

[ponder]

The Pens PP overall was better than ours because their 2nd unit was better than our 2nd unit.

Our unstacked unit with Marner was better than their stacked unit.

The Pens top unit scored about 50% more PP goals than our top unit, though also played about 50% more PP minutes. Partly that’s because the Pens drew more PPs, but it’s also partly because the Pens were more willing to leave their top unit out for basically the entire PP. Babs was much more an “even distributor” of PP minutes.

IMO we have so much talent now, we should try the Pens approach, loading it all up on one unit, and if they’re great, play them like crazy. It’s not like our 2nd unit was effective anyways, and the top unit will need to be shaken up regardless with JvR and Bozak gone.

A top unit of Matthews, Tavares, Nylander-or-Kadri, Rielly and Marner would still leave a 2nd unit of Nylander-or-Kadri, Marleau, Gardiner, Johnsson and Brown, or something like that. If the first unit is killing it, play them huge minutes, and the second unit doesn’t matter too much. If the first unit isn’t clicking, then try something else.

 

[MJ65]

I don't think if Matthews and Tavares are going to be on the same PP unit - they both are going to have their own units

 

[diceman934]

Food for thought. Mathews was unhappy about his ice time last season and we just sold Tavares a bill of goods about ice time team mates etc. They are both playing together along with Marner and Rielly on the top unit and for my money it is Kadri with them as he goes to the net hard gets the puck back and played very well the last two years on the top unit. He also is very good st the dot on his strong side.

We are going to a really top unit PP and the second unit will see 30 seconds most times.

 

[Mess]

Tavares got 30 points on the PP this year. JvR got 20. Sure JvR was one of the best. Clearly Tavares is far better.

You have to factor in teammates when making that comparison.

Isles #1 PP unit was loaded with talent while Leafs split their PP units.

 

[Mess]

Food for thought. Mathews was unhappy about his ice time last season and we just sold Tavares a bill of goods about ice time team mates etc. They are both playing together along with Marner and Rielly on the top unit and for my money it is Kadri with them as he goes to the net hard gets the puck back and played very well the last two years on the top unit. He also is very good st the dot on his strong side.

We are going to a really top unit PP and the second unit will see 30 seconds most times.

All 3 of your centres on the same PP would mean NO lines available intact post PP except the 4th line. Opposition would toss out a top offensive line and Leafs would have their 4th line on ice post unsuccessful PP. Self inflicted mistake giving our opposition a huge advantage after killing off a PK.

Cannibalizing 3 lines for a single PP unit is not wise unless its last few minutes of a game and you're behind and need goals.

Its more likely the Tavares/Marner line and the Matthews/Nylander line make up separate units to keep lines available for ES 5v5 strategies by the coach.

 

[Brobust]

Tavares - Matthews - Kapanen - Nylander - Gardiner/Zaitsev

Johnsson - Marleau - Kadri - Marner - Rielly

Matthews deserves to be on the 1st PP.

Also, my preference is to use Zaitsev on the PP over Gardiner. I think playing on the PP did wonders for Rielly's confidence and aggressiveness with the puck. Hoping the same thing happens with Zaitsev.

But I managed to keep Kadri-Marner-Rielly together who have great chemistry on the PP.

 

[Mess]

Leafs expected 5v5 lines.

Marleau (L) -- Matthews (L) -- Nylander (R)
Hyman -- Tavares (L) -- Marner (R)
Johnsson (L) -- Kadri (L) -- Brown (R)

So in my opinion the Kadri line will be the one cannibalized to form PP#1 and PP unit#2.

Kadri and Johnsson joining Tavares line with Marner (& replacing Hyman)
&
Matthews ES line remains intact on their own unit and get Brownie added as the 4th forward.

With Hyman and Kappy used as PK#1 as their top penalty killers as specialty team players.

 

[diceman934]

All 3 of your centres on the same PP would mean NO lines available intact post PP except the 4th line. Opposition would toss out a top offensive line and Leafs would have their 4th line on ice post unsuccessful PP. Self inflicted mistake giving our opposition a huge advantage after killing off a PK.

Cannibalizing 3 lines for a single PP unit is not wise unless its last few minutes of a game and you're behind and need goals.

Its more likely the Tavares/Marner line and the Matthews/Nylander line make up separate units to keep lines available for ES 5v5 strategies by the coach.

Lol seriously you think that Marleau Nylander and Hyman could not hold the fort down while our other two lines rest. Or for that matter we could toss in Brown into the mix we will be fine loading up.

Teams load up PP all the time and take players from 3 lines to do so and do not get eaten alive the following shift. Many teams by the way have some of their top players on the PK by the way.

 

[IPS]

Lol seriously you think that Marleau Nylander and Hyman could not hold the fort down while our other two lines rest. Or for that matter we could toss in Brown into the mix we will be fine loading up.

Teams load up PP all the time and take players from 3 lines to do so and do not get eaten alive the following shift. Many teams by the way have some of their top players on the PK by the way.

It's ridiculous how it's even a debate.

Look at how the best do it. Every elite team in the league stacks their 1st unit with their 3 best offensive players and plays them for 1:30. None of the elite coaches in the league give a f*** about what their 2nd PP unit looks like when it should only be playing 30 seconds of a PP.

 

[Sypher04]

Pittsburgh has no problem tossing their top 2 centers on one powerplay unit. There's no reason we can't.

Top unit should be Matthews, Tavares, Nylander, Marner & Rielly. They can be followed up by Kadri, Johnsson, Marleau, Kapanen, & Gardiner for the last ~30 seconds

 

[IPS]

Pittsburgh has no problem tossing their top 2 centers on one powerplay unit. There's no reason we can't.

Top unit should be Matthews, Tavares, Nylander, Marner & Rielly. They can be followed up by Kadri, Johnsson, Marleau, Kapanen, & Gardiner for the last ~30 seconds

You gotta think with how effective Marner was at feeding JVR and Kadri goals on the PP the last 2 years how incredibly deadly he would be feeding Matthews and Tavares in the same spots. Nylander on the left side with a right handed shot also compliments it nicely.

 

[Mess]

Lol seriously you think that Marleau Nylander and Hyman could not hold the fort down while our other two lines rest. Or for that matter we could toss in Brown into the mix we will be fine loading up.

Teams load up PP all the time and take players from 3 lines to do so and do not get eaten alive the following shift. Many teams by the way have some of their top players on the PK by the way.

If you think Babcock will toss out a make shift line of spare parts post PP then you haven't been watching last year, no offense intended.. How many times did you see Marner, Matthews, Kadri, Nylander or JVR on the same PP unit combined? .. The answer is Zero.

Think about your suggestion for a second if Matthews regular linemates Marleau and Nylander are out there right after a PP while Matthews rests, how do you plan on reuniting that line as a trio if once Matthews is ready to go now Nylander and Marleau are resting after a shift.

Last year strategy was pretty obvious it was either the JVR - Bozak -- Marner line on PP#1 joined by Kadri or once Marner joined Kadri line it remained the same as Babcock merged 2 lines into 1 PP unit and Matthews and Nylander and Marleau seldom is ever found themselves combined with JVR or Kadri lines on the PP.

The Kadri line last year was broken up and used to fill out PP#1 and PP#2 units. Same is likely to happen this year as well. Babcock also believes in pairs and this year the plan is Tavares/Marner and Matthews/Nylander and those duos likely to remain as well on PP units filled out by the players from the Kadri line.

 

[Mess]

It's ridiculous how it's even a debate.

Look at how the best do it. Every elite team in the league stacks their 1st unit with their 3 best offensive players and plays them for 1:30. None of the elite coaches in the league give a **** about what their 2nd PP unit looks like when it should only be playing 30 seconds of a PP.

Look at how the best do it ??????

Leafs were ranked #2OA in PP% at 25% behind only the Pens in 2017-18..

NHL.com - Stats

Seems Babcock already knows what he is doing as #2 would be considered how the best do it.

 

[Liminality]

Look at how the best do it ??????

Leafs were ranked #2OA in PP% at 25% behind only the Pens in 2017-18..

NHL.com - Stats

Seems Babcock already knows what he is doing as #2 would be considered how the best do it.

I agree with you here, there's no one way to run a competitive powerplay for your team. If two units get the job done then there's no reason as to why you have to switch to a single unit because another team does it.

Here's the thing, even if we do split our powerplay a bit, we're going to have an awesome first unit.

 

[crump]

Time to load up the first unit.

Rielly left point
Marner right
JT net presence
Matthews left boards
Nylander slot

2nd
Gards left point
Kapanen right point
Johnsson net
Marleau left boards
Kadri Slot

 

[IPS]

Look at how the best do it ??????

Leafs were ranked #2OA in PP% at 25% behind only the Pens in 2017-18..

NHL.com - Stats

Seems Babcock already knows what he is doing as #2 would be considered how the best do it.

It's too bad they don't split Crosby and Malkin for unit 1 and 2 otherwises they'd be even better, right!?

 

[Mess]

Pittsburgh has no problem tossing their top 2 centers on one powerplay unit. There's no reason we can't.

Top unit should be Matthews, Tavares, Nylander, Marner & Rielly. They can be followed up by Kadri, Johnsson, Marleau, Kapanen, & Gardiner for the last ~30 seconds

Marner and Nylander both play the same role on the PP QB playing the point on the pp right hand side. Leafs don't have RHD capable of playing that spot (Rielly & Gardiner both LHD) and the only other RH short forwards are Kapanen and Brown to play the right hand point and I can't see Babcock using either in that role when he likely is saving them as top PK players also.

So one would have to think Mitch and Willie will continue in those same roles on different PP units and joined by either Rielly/Gardiner on different PP units.

Reilly/Marner & Gardiner/Nylander seem like the points on different PP units.

 

[Mess]

I agree with you here, there's no one way to run a competitive powerplay for your team. If two units get the job done then there's no reason as to why you have to switch to a single unit because another team does it.

Here's the thing, even if we do split our powerplay a bit, we're going to have an awesome first unit.

Its an easy debate to suggest having 2 strong balanced PP units covering the full 2 minute PP time is just as good an idea as stacking one and then wasting the last 30-45 seconds on a 2nd unit unlikely to score. The opposition might not have enough qualified PK units to defend 2 strong PP units creating a mismatch for your own team.

Leafs realistically could have a 1A and 1B units if they split Tavares/Marner and Matthews/Nylander on separate units and the one that starts the PP is the one that is fresh and rested.

Babcock deploys 2 units and utilizes the full 2 minutes and Leafs ended up #2 in the NHL with the 2nd best PP as a result. Don't mess with success or don't attempt to fix what ain't broken is the moral of the story here.

 

[diceman934]

If you think Babcock will toss out a make shift line of spare parts post PP then you haven't been watching last year, no offense intended.. How many times did you see Marner, Matthews, Kadri, Nylander or JVR on the same PP unit combined? .. The answer is Zero.

Think about your suggestion for a second if Matthews regular linemates Marleau and Nylander are out there right after a PP while Matthews rests, how do you plan on reuniting that line as a trio if once Matthews is ready to go now Nylander and Marleau are resting after a shift.

Last year strategy was pretty obvious it was either the JVR - Bozak -- Marner line on PP#1 joined by Kadri or once Marner joined Kadri line it remained the same as Babcock merged 2 lines into 1 PP unit and Matthews and Nylander and Marleau seldom is ever found themselves combined with JVR or Kadri lines on the PP.

The Kadri line last year was broken up and used to fill out PP#1 and PP#2 units. Same is likely to happen this year as well. Babcock also believes in pairs and this year the plan is Tavares/Marner and Matthews/Nylander and those duos likely to remain as well on PP units filled out by the players from the Kadri line.

Many times he put make shift lines out after killing a penalty as well as after a power play more then a few times.

What you and others are not getting is that Mathews and JT will be on with Marner and Rielly 100% as Mathews was unhappy and Babcock had to go and see him and make nice. So the chances are Mathews and JT are going to find themselves out together on the PP so they both can get the ice time they need and want.

We will be going with a true #1 PP unit to accommodate Mathews request for more Ice time as well as JT did not sign here to play on a balanced two unit PP.

The only question is who will be the 5th player on the PP and my money is on Kadri because of his ability to recover pucks over both Nylander and Johnnson.